A Sydney school teacher has been charged with using Facebook to have sexually explicit conversations with two teenage girls.
Police walked into an independent school in western Sydney on Tuesday and arrested the 28-year-old teacher.
Detectives had been monitoring his online activity for more than a week and allege he was engaging in "sexually explicit conversations" with the two girls, aged 14 and 15.
The girls were not students at the school he taught at.
Police said they had been "made aware of the suspicious activities" of the man earlier this month.
Police also seized electronic items including computers from the man's home in Sydney's west.
The arrest prompted Sex Crimes Squad commander Linda Howlett to encourage young people not to feel too embarrassed to report people speaking to them overly sexually or inappropriately on social media.
"We know you may be embarrassed or upset, but we will not judge you in any way, shape or form," she said.
"Our priority is tracking down and arresting the predator, so that they cannot hurt you or anyone else."
She said police knew for a fact that sexual predators were using social media platforms and apps to target and groom children.
The teacher was taken to Penrith police station on Tuesday where he was charged with two counts of using a carriage service to groom persons under 16 years for sexual activity.
He was granted strict conditional bail and will appear in Penrith Local Court on December 10.
The Child Exploitation Internet Unit regularly conducts covert investigations online.
Police issued parents with the following safety tips for internet use:
- Be aware of how much time your child spends on the internet.
- Spend time talking to your child about the dangers associated with online conversations.
- Spend time exploring the internet with your children and let them teach you about their favourite websites.
- Keep the computer in a room the whole family can access; not in your child's bedroom.
- Consider installing filtering and/or computer blocking software provided by your internet service provider. The Netalert web page provides information on a number of commercially-available products at www.netalert.net.au.
- Ensure you are able to access your child's email and randomly check the contents.
- Check your phone bill for unusual outgoing calls, or consider using a caller ID device to identify incoming calls.
- Consult your phone company for options designed to ensure privacy and security.
- Inquire with your child's school, public library and places they frequent to find out what internet safety measures they have in place.
- Information on internet safety is available on the NSW Police website at: http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/community_issues/children/child_exploitation
